


lost in the world

by HaleHole (SweetFanfics)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, MERMAID STILES, Pre-Slash, Werewolf Derek, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:59:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5060263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/HaleHole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These thoughts, along with focusing on a nearby orange and black creature that is resting on a purple plant tip, keep Stiles sufficiently distracted. To the point that he misses the dry scratch of heavy wood being pushed against stone, the heavy tread of heeled boots, and the sigh that is carried along with the wind.</p><p> </p><p>He’s too busy thinking <i>'Almost… almost… just a bit closer’</i> that he completely misses the tall figure that comes to stand at the top of the staircase</p>
            </blockquote>





	lost in the world

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this image  
>   
> You can reblog it from [here](http://missmeeya.tumblr.com/post/59219849759/paul-hoppe-the-invisible-city-ruins-girl).

The crumbling structure has been empty for a long time. For more seasons than Stiles has fingers and fins put together. That’s the biggest reason why it has become his little hide away, a place to go to when he wants to be alone or is feeling curious about humans.  


What makes the stony house especially interesting to Stiles, is the fact that the ocean comes right up under the stone and mortar. It’s strange really. Stiles has always been told that humans aren’t especially fond of the ocean, scared of it’s vast depths and the creatures present in the inky darkness. It's that though that stays in his head the first time he finds the place. And as he swims up under the dark beams and dusty stones, wondering what kind of human would want to build a home where the ocean comes up inside, he nearly crashes into the stone staircase.  


Now as reckless and curious as Stiles is, he has never ventured higher than a few steps above the water. on that staircase. Call it his small sense of self preservation but Stiles doesn’t want to be too far away from the water. Just in case. Even though, in all the seasons that he’s been visiting the structure, all he’s met are strange many legged creatures moving about. And once a strange creature that flew while making a high pitched noise that made Stiles wince.   


Perched atop a dislocated block of stone, Stiles peers up at the high ceiling and wonders why the material is black. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before. And how were some of these large rocks dislocated in the first place? How did humans carve them into these shapes? How were such large stones transported from one place to another? It's all very curious.   


Stiles imagines several answers for how the structure came to be abandoned. War. Plague. Famine. Natural disaster. The owners family falling to ruin. A thousand and one scenarios that made the human residents leave their large castle and flee inland.   


His tail shifts in the water, the rippling sound echoing in the empty space. The corner he’s sitting in feels too cold all of a sudden. His eyes turn to the stair case and the lovely patch of golden light on the sixth stair step. Dust motes dance in the beam, making that ray of sunshine look as warm and cozy as burying ones hands in the sand on a summer night. Stiles eyes it longingly, wondering if he dares because he's never gone higher than that third step. Because if he passes the fifth step, and anyone comes in? They'll see Stiles  _and_ his tail.   


But...

 _‘Why not.’_  He reasons with himself, sliding off the rock and into the water with a loud splash, swimming towards the staircase. It’s not as though there’s anyone around. No humans have been sighted recently (or to be more precise, since the night a great light had been seen burning around the structure and that was back when Stiles was but a child) so really, what harm could befall Stiles?  


And there are a number of the pale, delicate looking flying creatures flitting too and fro between the patches of greenery that have sprung up through the stone that Stiles wants to study at close range. Perhaps this time he’ll manage to sit still long enough to capture one. Maybe one of the white ones with the delicate looking wings… or the dainty yellow creature that sings so beautifully.  


Something somewhere in the building creaks tiredly, groaning long and hard before giving up and falling to the ground with an almighty crashing sound. Stiles starts and ducks under the water, leaving only his eyes above surface so that he can observe the top of the stone staircase.   


He holds his breath and listens, heart pounding so hard that he fears it might burst out of his chest. The echo of the crashing sound is swept away by the sound of dry leaves skittering above the stone before softly plopping into the water. A few of them skirt past Stiles’ head, one adventurous leaf clinging to his hair as he cautiously swims up to the steps.  


It’s as quiet as the structure ever is. There’s a mean wind whistling through the cracks and several creatures speaking to each other in their own languages that Stiles cannot decipher. The same as any other day that he’s snuck here. Still safe. With a weary sigh, Stiles assumes that another part of the building has died.  


Licking his lips, Stiles heaves himself up on the first step and waits, watching the white winged creatures flutter down. The land creatures continue their lazy dance around the purple plants, moving to and fro, to and fro, while Stiles cautiously creeps up on them. He only hopes that the sound of his wet tail hitting the stone won’t surprise the winged creatures.   


Thankfully, they carry on while Stiles pulls himself up the steps, crawling up the stairs through the use of his arms. Stiles wonders if humans, with their two legs and all, hate this strange upward rising structure with it’s many cuts. He can’t imagine anyone would enjoy having to walk up so many steps for whatever reason.   


His musing is cut short when a flash of white darts past his nose. Stiles blinks at the creature that has flown so close by him and grins. Today’s the day he’s going to capture one of these beauties! And if he’s successful, he’s going to take it back and show it to Scott.  


His friend might scold him again for going into the human structure on his own but he’s certain to enjoy the fascinating new creature. Perhaps it might be enough to coax his best friend to come check the structure with him next time.  


These thoughts, along with focusing on a nearby orange and black creature that is resting on a purple plant tip, keep Stiles sufficiently distracted. To the point that he misses the dry scratch of heavy wood being pushed against stone, the heavy tread of heeled boots, and the sigh that is carried along with the wind.  


He’s too busy thinking  _'Almost… almost… just a bit closer’_  that he completely misses the tall figure that comes to stand at the top of the staircase. The winged creature is far more fascinating than the surprised look that flits across the human’s face as he stares down at the merman lying there stretched across the stairs.   


“What the hell?”

 

There’s no way that Stiles misses the voice coming from overhead.

 

He freezes, hands inches away from cupping around the creature that is flexing itself on top of the plant. His eyes grow wide, wider, widest as they move up the gray stone and see the human staring at him.  


The human’s eyes, Stiles notes, are almost the same color as the clear water the ocean takes when it’s kissing the pale sand - a beautiful pale green and brown that makes Stiles’ shiver. He takes in the short dark hair, the beard, the broad shoulders, long legs and thinks that humans are a lot more attractive than he’s been led to believe.   


The shallow thought flies out of his head the second the human takes a step forward, a pebble dislodging from it’s place and clink-clunk-ing down the stone steps. Stiles jerks, like he’s waking up from a trance or a dream and throws himself back. Forget any wounds or bruises he might get as a result of falling down the cut stone. They’ll heal eventually. But should he be caught…  


It’s that thought that makes Stiles wriggle a bit harder to slide down the stone and into the water. The human yells at him, footsteps ringing loud and hurried as he follows Stiles.  _'Hurry! Hurry!’_  Stiles urges himself, diving headfirst into the water. There’s a brush of  _something_  against his fin that makes Stiles push himself harder, swimming furious-fast away from the human that had almost caught him.   


There’s a splashing noise behind him, loud enough that Stiles pauses by the small opening that he sneaks in through. He’s got both hands on the rocks, ready to wriggle out into the open waters but his curiosity compels him to look behind. The human is standing in the water, debris and leaves clinging to his wet shirt as he stares in amazement at Stiles.  


Stiles swallows, feeling more and more nervous as the man’s eyes shift suddenly from pale to a bright  _red_. His brain screams at him to swim away! Swim away before he’s caught and eaten. This one might appear to be human but it’s more. It's  _worse._ It’s a predator and Stiles is prey.  


So why is it just standing there watching him with such an odd look on its face? Why isn’t he yelling? Why isn’t he following Stiles? Why does he look like Stiles is the most amazing thing he has ever seen?

 

And most importantly.

 

Why hasn’t Stiles swum away yet?  


They stare at each other, at a clear impasse that neither of them seem willing to break. A shout echoes from behind the human. It makes the pair jump and stare back from where it had come from. More humans. He needs to leave  _now_.  


With a regretful look at the human, Stiles worms his way through the small opening. The last thing he hears is the human shouting something. He doesn’t look back to see if it was at him or whoever has followed the human.

 

\--

 

After his scare, Stiles avoids going to the ruins for a week. That's how long it takes for his curiosity to overcome his fear, to forget the chill he'd felt when that red eyed human has seen him. 

 

But rather than going alone, Stiles convinced Scott to join him. In return, he'd promised to help Scott collect a whole bunch of clams and check them for pearls. Scott had plans to string some pearls and pretty pink shells together into a necklace for his mom. It was a small price to pay to satiate his curiosity. 

 

However, his curiosity began to gave way to fear all over again as the stone building came into view. It was the same structure as always but the knowledge that humans had returned there after so many years made it appear more ominous than ever before. But it  _had_ been a week. So maybe that red eyed human had left? There was no chance that he'd have stuck around waiting for Stiles still. 

 

"Alright?" Scott asked, turning back to look at Stiles.

 

Giving himself a hard shake, Stiles swam up to his friend and replied, "Yeah. I just wondered if that guy from is still around."

 

"That's what we're going to check, right?" Scott said, shooting Stiles a frown, "I still can't believe someone came back to this place. Or that you managed to get away from the human without being caught."

 

Stiles began to swim up towards the surface with a grimace. He didn't want to think about his close call. But it really was remarkable he'd managed to get away after revealing himself. Which reminded him. "We should be careful going in there. He might have set some traps or nets. You never know with those humans."

 

Digging into the satchel slung by his side, Scott pulled out a stone knife and handed it over to Stiles, "I'm glad I packed these." 

 

The cuts on the dark stone gleamed purple and deep green as Stiles turned it one way and the other before grasping it more firmly, blade turned to the outside. Swimming side by side, the pair breached the surface and glanced around warily. The sound of the water rippling around them merged into the gentle sound of the ocean smacking against the side of the building. A bird let out a shriek somewhere in the distance. And there wasn't a boat or human in sight.

 

Stiles silently pointed towards the crumbling hole in the wall, gesturing for Scott to follow him. As they swam forward, Stiles tried to stare into the darkness beyond the hole but there was nothing to be seen. Stranger still was the fact that there weren't any traps to be found. Not a single one. And there didn't seem to be anything beyond the hole either. At least, no traps were set off when Stiles threw a fist sized stone inside the building.

 

They exchanged a cautious look when the echo of the splash died out and stretched out into silence. "Maybe he left?" Scott offered.

 

"No other way to find out except..." Stiles nodded inside the building.

 

Scott sighed deeply, "For the record, I don't like it."

 

"Like I do." Stiles sighed back, checking the knife's sharpness before swallowing harshly. "Okay. I'll go in first. You stay behind me a little bit and keep an eye out."

 

He ducked underneath the water and slithered through the opening. A long strand of seaweed brushed against his blue-gray tail, causing Stiles to start so bad he nearly popped out of the water. Giving the plant an annoyed glare, Stiles swam forward with care. Thanks to the overcast day, there was barely any light that managed to sneak through the building's patchy roof and into the foundations. It made Stiles repeatedly swing his arm in an arc in front of him in search of a net. It would all too easy to mess something like that in this darkness.

 

It was only when he was close to the stairs that Stiles cautiously stuck his head out of the water.

 

And jerked back in surprise because sitting there, on the sixth step, was the human.

 

The human started badly as well, half standing before freezing in place as their eyes met.

 

Stiles wasn't sure how much time passed as they stared at each other but it felt like an eternity. It felt like another eternity when the human straightened up to his full height, his hands hanging relaxed by his side. When the human flashed his red eyes, Stiles swam back a few inches and immediately pulled his knife up out of the water and pointed it at the human.

 

"Easy." The human said soothingly, hands coming up in front of him. Stiles' eyes slide up the human's bare arms - no weapons. But the red eyes meant this human wasn't a regular human. Perhaps he was touched by the supernatural as well? What other creatures had red eyes? Maybe Scott would kn-

 

Oh Poseidon, where was Scott? Stiles turned around to glance behind him and saw nothing. Good. Scott was hanging back and under the water. That was good. 

 

"Looking for your friend?" The human asked. Stiles started and turned back to stare at the human. Who was pointing at the large rock in the corner, the one almost hidden in the shadows, "He's over there. I can hear him breathing."

 

A pebble fell into the water somewhere. Stiles wondered if it was caused by Scott's shock at being so easily discovered. But it did prove that this person before him was definitely not a human then. "What are you?" 

 

The human smirked, "Werewolf. And you're a mermaid." Stiles shot the werewolf an unamused look. Like that was a hard conclusion to arrive upon. But it oddly made the werewolf's smirk soften. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'd just like to talk."

 

Ripples pressed against stone with the gentlest sound. Another rock splashed into the water, louder than the one before. And it took everything Stiles had to keep from jumping when he felt a cool hand wrap around his free hand that was still under water. He felt a finger trace a symbol against his wrist. Stiles relaxed immediately. It was Scott. 

 

"What do you want to talk about?" Stiles asked.

 

He watched the werewolf sit back down, slowly and carefully like he was didn't want to spook Stiles. "A lot of things. Like your name and what you've been doing here."

 

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." 

 

"Fair enough. I'm Derek."

 

He felt Scott's hand press against his lower back, Scott's tail brushing against his own as he slipped up to the surface hiding behind Stiles. "I'm Stiles."

 

"And your friend?" Derek nodded at them.

 

There was a pause before Scott slipped out from behind Stiles. "Scott."

 

Derek nodded before asking again, "And what've you been doing here?"

 

"Nothing. I come here sometimes to try and catch those flying things." Stiles pointed towards the green and purple patch near where Derek was sitting.

 

Following Stiles' finger, Derek eyed the flowers before asking, "The butterflies? Did you ever catch one?"

 

Stiles frowned and shook his head. "They're too fast and fly all weird. Makes it hard to predict where they're going to go."

 

"Stiles," Scott hissed into his ear, "We should go. What if he's stalling? This could still be a trap."

 

Stiles froze, wondering if his curiosity was going to be his downfall after all.

 

"This isn't a trap," Derek's voice cut through his doubt, "I really just wanted to talk. Get to know you."

 

Scott shot Derek a hard look, "Why? How can we trust you?"

 

Derek seemed oddly amused and impressed by Scott's distrust, "You can't. But I'd like you too."

 

"Maybe later. Right now we need to leave." Scott emphasized the last word, tugging Stiles back towards their exit.

 

Reluctantly, Stiles allowed himself to be dragged back but not before he said to Derek, "Will you be here tomorrow?"

 

"I will."

 

"Then I might seen you again." 


End file.
